Civic tax
hike review

ALOK KUMAR IN GAYA

The civic body on Wednesday decided to conduct a fresh assessment of holding taxes in the wake of residents’ opposition to its proposal to hike the tax structure.

“During the fresh assessment, commercial use of an area or fresh construction in a house after the previous evaluation will be taken into consideration. Assessment will also be done in areas where new colonies have come up,” Gaya Municipal Corporation (GMC) deputy mayor Akhauri Onkarnath alias Mohan Shrivastava said.

To ensure transparency of the process, GMC officials in the rank of junior engineer would supervise the assessment, which will also be overseen by the executive engineer, if necessary.

There will be a committee of residents and ward councillors, the mayor, the deputy mayor and the city commissioner to supervise the assessment procedure.

Once the assessment is over, the residents will get 15 days to file objections, if any.

“The most important decision taken was that the residents will be allowed to file affidavits, declaring the construction area of their respective houses —both residential and commercial. The holding tax will be finalised on the basis of the affidavits,” Shrivastava said.

The civic body’s proposal to increase the holding tax from April 1, 2012, had evoked protests among the residents.

Councillor Laljee Prasad had also opposed the GMC’s proposal to increase the holding tax.

The GMC had sent a proposal to the government on December 29 last year, demanding increase in the holding tax. The proposal had been sent in view of the state government’s directive to effect an 80 per cent increase in the holding tax.

The deputy mayor, however, claimed that the holding tax would not be doubled. Mayor Vibha Devi presided over the GMC meeting, which was attended by GMC city commissioner Dhaneshwar Chaudhary, the deputy mayor and other councillors.